But first, a few gripes:
- It's getting harder to be a TIFF patron, especially when they've not only raised the price to more than twice your regular ticket ($34/single ticket), but they've also increased it further when the tickets are in demand. My eyes felt a little gouged out this time around.
- Late comers expecting others to move to accommodate their wish to sit the whole family together, when perfectly available rows (albeit not as good) are theirs to move together to.
- Having to up my game to close to 2 hours line up time. People, you be killin' me.

All things considered, it was a pretty good TIFF, given that it only rained on my last day, and I only hated one of my 17 films (see below). And I got to be close to Werner Herzog! Except for my getting sick part, vacation well spent.

01. Gianfranco Rosi / Fire at sea: he refuses to play within the documentary feature parameters, and makes a compelling story as seamless as that of a fictional narrative auteur. Winning bit: sound weaving in and out of the boat rescue, accompanying the slow, restrained camera work that's never exploitative or hurried. 02. Bertrand Bonello / Nocturama: Bonello gives Tom Ford a run for his money in the art of making things look cool and stylish, while staying bold and relevant with social discourse. Winning bit: making co-ordinated attacks (both from the teenagers, and later their hunters) feel exceedingly intense, complicated and disconcerting. 03. Cristi Puiu / Sieranevada: he makes me believe life goes on off camera. Winning bit: the camera pans away from a scene in a room, seemingly heading to another room when, unexpectedly, it pans back to the same scene in the room, giving the impression that we've been called back for further exploration.04. Pablo Larraín / Neruda: fittingly, he peruses a poetic film structure to bring to life an unknown part of a poet. Winning bit: stringing emotional connections between scenes and characters by literally reframing these characters so that all other contextual elements disappear from the screen.05. Maren Ade / Toni Erdmann: she brings a uniquely apt take on the challenging dramedy genre. Winning bit: Ines celebrates her birthday. Brilliant, hysterical bit of comedy mixed with shock and sadness.

The State of the World - Fire at Sea and Nocturama
Why Characters Matter - Harmonium and Death in Sarajevo
The Camera's Presence - Sieranevada, Neruda and Divines
Unexpected Stories - Toni Erdmann, The happiest day in the life of Olli Maki, Moonlight